All entries by this author
While other women are fair game for it
Sep 8th, 2016 12:04 pm | By Ophelia BensonSamantha Rea says there was the Twitter lark about #IfMenHadPeriods and then there was the inevitable ridiculous reaction to same.
… Read the restIt was a bit of fun, but not everyone thought so. One Twitter user wrote, “While this highly cisnormative hashtag is trending, I want to remind everyone that trans men do exist + some have periods.” Another complained, “Men do have periods. Not every man is cis and it’s disgusting for people to still be assuming that they are.” There were numerous other tweets along these lines.
I’m sorry, Social Justice Warriors, but here’s the science bit: Men don’t have periods – women do. That’s biology. It doesn’t matter how we identify, what we wear, who we sleep with, or
These men are cowboys
Sep 8th, 2016 11:07 am | By Ophelia BensonSo it really is all about dressing up and let’s pretend and how awesome do I look in these cowboy boots and never mind what I did, how’s my image?
… Read the restAmmon Bundy’s lawyer asked a judge to rule on a very important request Wednesday: that his client be able to wear cowboy boots to the trial for several Oregon standoff defendants, according to The Oregonian.
Bundy’s lawyer, J. Morgan Philpot, told the judge that because his client is a “cowboy” and has not yet been convicted of any charges, he should be able to dress however he pleases, which includes cowboy boots, neckties and belts.
“These men are cowboys, and given that the jury will be assessing their authenticity
In the same room where musical instruments are being played
Sep 8th, 2016 10:36 am | By Ophelia BensonWhen music class begins this week at Toronto’s Donwood Park elementary school, Mohammad Nouman Dasu will send a family member to collect his three young children. They will go home for an hour rather than sing and play instruments – a mandatory part of the Ontario curriculum he believes violates his Muslim faith.
The school tried to accommodate the religious fanatic, but nothing would do – music has to be banned from his children’s lives entirely.
… Read the restAccording to documents obtained by The Globe and Mail, some parents insist they cannot allow their children to be in the same room where musical instruments are being played. Mr. Dasu, a Koran teacher who sometimes leads prayers at
Repeal the 8th
Sep 8th, 2016 9:38 am | By Ophelia BensonYesterday evening in Dublin about 200 people showed up to protest outside that “clinic” that tells women lies about abortion.
In a report for The Times (Ireland edition), reporters Ellen Coyne and Catherine Sanz secretly recorded a consultation in the clinic between a staff member and a woman seeking advice on a crisis pregnancy.
It is alleged a staff member at the Women’s Centre, on Berkeley Street in Dublin 7, advised the woman that abortion increases a woman’s risk of breast cancer and that women who have had abortions are “known to neglect their children”.
It’s alleged and it’s on video that we can all look at.
… Read the restProtesters – some carrying placards, others wearing high-vis clothing – began to gather
Trump’s epic corruption
Sep 7th, 2016 4:59 pm | By Ophelia BensonThe Times is also paying attention to Trump’s corruption.
… Read the restMr. Trump’s payment of a $2,500 penalty to the Internal Revenue Service over that 2013 campaign gift amounted to only the latest slap of his wrist in a decades-long record of shattering political donation limits and circumventing the rules governing contributions and lobbying.
In the 1980s, Mr. Trump was compelled to testify under oath before New York State officials after he directed tens of thousands of dollars to the president of the New York City Council through myriad subsidiary companies to evade contribution limits. In the 1990s, the Federal Election Commission fined Mr. Trump for exceeding the annual limit on campaign contributions by $47,050, the largest violation in a single
It seems more than coincidental
Sep 7th, 2016 4:13 pm | By Ophelia BensonThat little slip-up where Trump appears to have bribed Florida’s Attorney General to decide not to investigate his not-university – that slip-up seems to be getting more journalistic attention. The Boston Globe for instance:
… Read the rest“A minor issue,” Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks told NBC.
That’s disingenuous spin of the first order. It’s also illegal. The Donald J. Trump Foundation, which is organized under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code, clearly violated its tax-exempt status by making the contribution — a fact brought to light in March by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. But this is more than an accounting error. There’s a whiff of scandal that demands full attention from voters who might otherwise be trying
Gone
Sep 7th, 2016 3:15 pm | By Ophelia BensonUniversity students in South Africa are protesting student fees. Last night a historic college law library was torched.
… Read the restSouth African politicians have united to condemn the burning of one of the country’s finest law libraries during protests over university fees, in which students say a female classmate has been raped.
The book burning was likened to the activities of the youth wing of the Nazi party in 1930s Germany in a statement by the ruling African National Congress (ANC).
A law lecturer at UKZN, Franaaz Khan, told TMG Digital that while fire fighters had managed to bring the fire under control‚ the faculty had lost priceless material, including rare books dating
Compassion is greatest
Sep 7th, 2016 12:31 pm | By Ophelia BensonAnjem Choudary was sentenced to 5.5 years yesterday.
… Read the restAs he was sentenced, Choudary’s supporters stood up in the public gallery and shouted: “Allahu Akbar” – Arabic for God is greatest. He smiled and disappeared down to the cells.
For 20 years Choudary has been the police’s headache – now he is the prison service’s. He will start time in the high security unit – a prison within a prison – at HMP Belmarsh in south-east London. Only a few of the most dangerous individuals in the country are ever held there at one time – and the priority will be keeping him apart from the impressionable minds whom Mr Justice Holroyde said he did so much to influence.
Whether the
Just distribute photos
Sep 7th, 2016 12:10 pm | By Ophelia BensonThe Statesman, India, on another view of “Mother” Teresa:
… Read the restAs the Vatican conferred sainthood on Mother Teresa, an organisation promoting scientific thinking on Sunday ridiculed Indian politicians for attending the canonisation ceremony that “promoted superstition” and asked them to distribute her pictures instead of opening hospitals.
The city-based Science and Rationalists’ Association of India (SRAI), on the day held a meet opposing Teresa’s canonisation at the Vatican City which was attended by host of leaders from across the globe including Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
“By attending the canonisation ceremony our leaders have certified that they believe in miracles and hocus-pocus. So now, instead of spending tax payers money on hospitals,
The poor did not get their bread
Sep 7th, 2016 11:52 am | By Ophelia BensonTen years ago Walter Wuellenweber asked in Stern where “Mother” Teresa’s millions were. The Science and Rationalists’ Association of India republished it.
It quotes some people who have found MT’s putative saintliness not all that generous or useful.
… Read the restIn Calcutta, one meets many doubters.
For example, Samity, a man of around 30 with no teeth, who lives in the slums. He is one of the “poorest of the poor” to whom Mother Teresa was supposed to have dedicated her life. With a plastic bag in hand, he stands in a kilometre long queue in Calcutta’s Park Street. The poor wait patiently, until the helpers shovel some rice and lentils into their bags. But Samity does not get his grub
Daddy held her down while ex strangled her
Sep 7th, 2016 10:19 am | By Ophelia BensonHeads we win, tails you lose. Jon Boone reports from Islamabad:
Family members accused of killing Samia Shahid, a British citizen who divorced and remarried without their permission, planned to use Pakistan’s much-criticised “blood money” laws to forgive her killer, a report into the case has alleged.
Police findings say the 28-year-old was the victim of “premeditated and cold-blooded honour killing”, which her family had hoped to get away with by exploiting Islamic laws the government has repeatedly promised to scrap.
The laws in question allow family members to pardon people who kill other family members – which of course makes “honor” killing risk-free: Daddy kills his daughter and her brother pardons Daddy. Everybody’s happy except the daughter, but … Read the rest
She decided not to pursue the case
Sep 6th, 2016 6:17 pm | By Ophelia BensonDavid Fahrenthold at the Washington Post last week:
Donald Trump paid the IRS a $2,500 penalty this year, an official at Trump’s company said, after it was revealed that Trump’s charitable foundation had violated tax laws by giving a political contribution to a campaign group connected to Florida’s attorney general.
The improper donation, a $25,000 gift from the Donald J. Trump Foundation, was made in 2013. At the time, Attorney General Pam Bondi was considering whether to investigate fraud allegations against Trump University. She decided not to pursue the case.
Sigh. Trump gave the Attorney General money, and she dropped the investigation into fraud allegations against his fraudulent not-university. Why isn’t this an issue?
… Read the restThe sequence began when Bondi
Who counts
Sep 6th, 2016 5:08 pm | By Ophelia BensonWhat’s the weather like down there in the bottom of the barrel?
Bill Cosby’s lawyers said Tuesday that the comedian — who will stand trial in June for allegedly drugging and sexually molesting a woman — is a victim of “racial bias.”
What does that sound like – oh yes, O J Simpson’s lawyers claiming that the prosecution of Simpson was “racial bias” when in fact the LA police had been cutting him way too much slack for years.
It sounds like angry, entitled men who destroy or damage women and when caught pretend they’re the ones being wronged.
… Read the rest“For Mr. Cosby, this is a version of the ‘shoot now, ask questions later’ approach to judicial justice that you’re seeing
Stopping Olukoya and Witch hunting in UK Black Communities
Sep 6th, 2016 | By Leo Igwe
Witchcraft related abuse is a very serious problem in African migrant communities in the UK. There is documented evidence that these abuses are linked to activities of African pastors and African initiated churches. Unfortunately efforts to address this problem are bogged down by concerns over racism, minority rights and abuse of religious liberty. We should not allow such concerns to distract us from addressing this problem.
Vulnerable members of the African migrant communities in the UK, particularly children, are at risk of being tortured and murdered by relatives who accuse them of witchcraft. Many of such horrific treatments in the name of witchcraft go unreported because victims are often defenseless infants, and the abuses take place in the name of … Read the rest
Really no go ahead and try him out
Sep 6th, 2016 9:43 am | By Ophelia BensonDon’t forget how Keith Vaz talked about his entertainment for the evening.
“Have you ______ him yet?” The obscured word being presumably “fucked” – although “raped” might be more accurate.
“Someone will need to break him tonight.”
As one breaks in a new pair of shoes.… Read the rest
The john recuses himself
Sep 6th, 2016 9:22 am | By Ophelia BensonKeith Vaz has quit the job as Home Affairs Committee chairman.
The Sunday Mirror sought to justify its report by pointing to the political responsibilities of Mr. Vaz, suggesting that his conduct had compromised his ability to fulfill his duties.
As chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee in the House of Commons, he enjoyed a prominent role in oversight of the Home Office, the department that controls Britain’s policy on, among other things, drugs and prostitution.
A john shouldn’t be overseeing policy on prostitution. Conflict of interest.
My dislike of him dates from his joining the theocratic outrage against Salman Rushdie.
… Read the restIn 1989, two years after becoming the first Asian MP since 1929, he led a march
Such views remain unpopular
Sep 5th, 2016 5:14 pm | By Ophelia BensonShashank Bangali at the LA Times takes a look at the controversy over “Mother” Teresa.
Few people are as closely identified with a city as Mother Teresa is with Kolkata, the onetime colonial Indian capital where the Albanian nun garnered worldwide admiration for her work with the poor, infirm and outcast.
…
Many in Kolkata revere her for the half-century of service that earned her a Nobel Peace Prize and the moniker “saint of the gutters.” The Missionaries of Charity, the order she founded in 1950, sheltered tens of thousands of leprosy victims, sidewalk-dwellers, tuberculosis patients, orphans and the disabled at 19 homes across the city, and now has branches in 150 countries.
What exactly was her “work” with … Read the rest
Teresa’s libelling of Calcutta has human costs
Sep 5th, 2016 4:36 pm | By Ophelia BensonA Facebook post recommending a tv interview with Aroup Chatterjee:
… Read the restAroup is spot on in this interview about “Saint” Teresa.
When I visited the Hospice for the Destitute and Dying in Kalighat (a district of Calcutta), Sister Nirmala – Teresa’s successor – told me that my marriage to a “Hindu” was a “big problem” and she looked quite upset about it (I think she assumed that I am Christian, which I am not). Nirmala stated that my marriage would never work and she wanted to have a word with me. I walked out. She was obviously a Christian chauvinist bigot, ie a fascist.
Teresa’s libelling of Calcutta has human costs. Calcutta is a wonderful city with the kindest, most intelligent
At long last, men speak up
Sep 5th, 2016 4:14 pm | By Ophelia BensonIt turns out that the real oppressed groups are the ones who have always had privilege and suddenly have it taken away. Who knew?
… Read the rest“I actually feel like women are taking over the world,” says Ishwar Chhikara, a 36-year-old investment officer at an international development bank, citing statistics showing more women now have college degrees in the US than men. He says this laughing, but with no audible irony.
“I feel bad for men, especially those who don’t go to school, or study. The whole system is changing drastically with the coming of the information age. It’s not about strength anymore, it’s about the brains.”
While muscles at the center of an economy made the physically stronger sex have more
